Card case

ABSTRACT

A card case comprises a receptacle having a bottom wall and a pair of upstanding sidewalls secured thereto to define a compartment for retaining business cards or the like therein. An end wall is pivotally mounted on each end of the case and linkage means connect the end walls to each other to permit them to be tilted-back simultaneously.

United States Patent 11 1 [111 3,902,595

Mori Sept. 2, 1975 [5 CARD CASE 1,681,318 8/1928 Banschbach 206/44 B 2,123,022 7/1938 Pilliod et al..... 206/4534 [75] mentor: Chum Tokyo Japan 3,179,278 4/1965 Cohen 220/8 73 Assignee: C Manufacturing Company Ltd 3,595,433 7/1971 J0n&6 et al. 220/31 5 Tokyo, Japan Primary Examiner-William T. Dixson, Jr. [22] F1led: July 9, 1973 Appl. No.1 377,382

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Bright 206/44 B Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Phillips, Moore, Weissenberger Lempio & Strabala [57] ABSTRACT A card case comprises a receptacle having a bottom wall and a pair of upstanding sidewalls secured thereto to define a compartment for retaining business cards or the like therein. An end wall is pivotally mounted on each end of the case and linkage means connect the end walls to each other to permit them to be tilted-back simultaneously.

1 Claim, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTED SEP 21975 SHEET 1 0f 2 CARD CASE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventional card cases, such as those adapted to retain a plurality of stacked business cards, normally comprise a U-shaped receptacle having a pair of end walls movably mounted thereon. Such end walls must be moved individually to permit the cards to betilted for inspection or retrieval purposes.

SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THIS INVENTION An object of this invention is to provide an economical, non-complex and improved card case adapted for expeditious inspection and retrieval of the cards retained therein. The card case comprises a bottom wall having a pair of laterally spaced sidewalls secured thereto and a pair of end walls positioned at opposite ends of the card case. Means interconnect the end walls to permit them to be tilted-back simultaneously to provide easy access to the cards retained in the card case.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other objects of this invention will become apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. I is a perspective view of a card ease, embodying this invention, illustrated in its closed condition;

FIG. 2 is a partially sectioned view, similar to FIG. 1, illustrating the card case in an opened condition;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the closed card case, further illustrating such an opened condition by phantom lines;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view, taken at arrows 4-4 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view, taken in the direction of arrows 5-5 in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 is an isometric view of a modified form of a pivot means employed for pivotally mounting a movable end wall on the card case.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIGS. 1-5 illustrate a card case comprising a receptacle 10 having a transparent cover II removably mounted thereon. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the card case is adapted to retain a plurality of business cards 12 or the like in a compartment thereof for inspection or retrieval purposes. When the card case is maintained in its FIG. I, normally closed condition, the cards (not shown) will assume an upstanding position whereas when the card case is opened to its FIG. 2 condition, the cards will be permitted to tilt.

Receptacle I0 comprises a horizontally disposed bottom wall 13 and a pair of laterally spaced, upstanding and hollow sidewalls l4 and 15 secured thereto to define the card retaining compartment. A pair of normally upstanding end walls 16 and 17 are movably mounted on opposite ends of the card case to be opened manually to their FIG. 2, tilted-back positions whereby they form a substantial obtuse angle with respect to the bottom wall. To facilitate such opening, each end wall is connected to the bottom wall by an intermediate L-shaped member 18 having a diagonal slit I9 formed at thejuncture of each end wall and the bottom wall to define a hinge or pivot means 20 thereat (FIG. 4).

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Member 18 may be composed of a suitable plastic material exhibiting sufficient flexibility and resiliency to permit each end wall to be moved between its opened and closed positions illustrated in FIG. 4. It should be understood that other standard types of pivot or hinge means could be used in lieu of pivot means 20 (e.g., double leaf hinge). As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, each end wall may also have a pair of side plates 21 and 22 secured thereto which are normally disposed in a respective one of hollow sidewalls 14 or 15. A stop member 23 may be formed on the inboard end of each side plate to engage an upper surface 24, in part defining the channel formed in each sidewall (FIG. 5), to limit the amount of tilt-back of the end walls to maintain them in their open positions.

Means 25 interconnect the end walls to permit simultaneous movement thereof between their FIGS. 1 and 2 positions. Such means, which may be duplicated on the opposite side of the card case, comprises a bellcrank-type linkage having a lever 26 pivotally mounted on the inner partition of sidewall 15 by a pivot pin 27. A pair of links 28 and 29 are each pivotally interconnected between a respective end of the lever and one of the end walls.

Thus, upon removal of cover 11 the upper end of one of the end walls can be grasped manually and tilted backwardly to its FIG. 2 position. Simultaneously therewith, the opposite end wall will be tilted backwardly a like amount. The exposed and tilted cards can then be readily inspected and retrieved, if so desired.

Each end wall preferably has an inwardly slanted plate 30 secured on the upper end thereof to facilitate such opening. In addition, such plates slidably guide abutting portions of the cover and terminate at their lower ends at elongated grooves 32 and 33 (FIG. 3). Such grooves cooperate with recesses 34 and 35, formed on the upper edges of sidewalls l4 and 15, respectively, to provide a seat for the lower edges of the cover therein.

It should be noted that the lateral ends of each flange 30 and 31 terminate short of parallel recesses 34 and 35 to permit the cover to be placed thereover. As shown more clearly in FIG. 5, releasable locking means, typified by a protuberance 36 formed on plate 21 and a mating recess 37 formed in the inner partition of sidewall 15, are employed for maintaining the end walls in their normal upstanding positions. Such locking means can be utilized in connection with one or more of the four plates 21 and 22.

FIG. 6 illustrates a modification of the card case wherein pivot means 20 has been replaced by a pair (one shown) of pivot pins 20a for pivoting each plate 22:: on the sidewalls. Identical numerals depict corresponding constructions with the FIG. 5 numerals being accompanied by an a.

What is claimed is:

I. In a card case of the type defining a receptacle adapted to retain a plurality of stacked business cards therein, comprising a horizontally disposed bottom wall, a pair of laterally spaced and upstanding hollow sidewalls secured to said bottom wall, a pair of normally upstanding end walls, an integrally formed pivot means composed of a plastic material exhibiting a high degree of flexibility and resiliency, connecting the lower ends of each end wall to opposite ends of said bottom wall to permit said end walls to pivot from their normally upstanding position to an open position formsaid end walls in an open position, releasable locking means between at least one of said plates and a respective one of said sidewalls for locking said end walls in their normal, upstanding positions.

and a transparent cover removably mounted on grooved means formed in the upper edges of said sidewalls and said end walls whereby when the cover is removed, one of the end walls may be manually tilted backwardly and the opposite end wall will be tilted a like amount to said obtuse angle. 

1. In a card case of the type defining a receptacle adapted to retain a plurality of stacked business cards therein, comprising a horizontally disposed bottom wall, a pair of laterally spaced and upstanding hollow sidewalls secured to said bottom wall, a pair of normally upstanding end walls, an integrally formed pivot means composed of a plastic material exhibiting a high degree of flexibility and resiliency, connecting the lower ends of each end wall to opposite ends of said bottom wall to permit said end walls to pivot from their normally upstanding position to an open position forming a substantially obtuse angle with respect to said bottom wall, a lever pivotally mounted intermediate its ends within one of said hollow sidewalls, said end walls having plates secured thereto, said plates disposed to extend inwardly within said hollow sidewalls towards each other, a pair of links pivotally interconnected between a respective end of said lever and said plates, cooperating stop means formed on each plate and an upper surface in said hollow sidewall for holding said end walls in an open position, releasable locking means between at least one of said plates and a respective one of said sidewalls for locking said end walls in their normal, upstanding posiTions. and a transparent cover removably mounted on grooved means formed in the upper edges of said sidewalls and said end walls whereby when the cover is removed, one of the end walls may be manually tilted backwardly and the opposite end wall will be tilted a like amount to said obtuse angle. 